Lamps with lamp sockets on both sides, in particular fluorescent lamps are well-known in the art. Reference is made for example to DE 10 2007 054 930 A1 co-owned by applicant. Fluorescent tubes of this type with sockets on both sides include socket contacts configured as contact pins at their respective ends, wherein the socket contacts are respectively inserted into a lamp holder. These are typically sockets with a rotor in which the contact pins are provided to the rotor through a slot in the holder housing and are moved into a contact position through subsequent rotation of the lamp while moving the rotor along in which contact position the socket contacts become electrically connected with the contact pins of the lamp and a mechanical support of the lamp is also provided.
Fluorescent lamps with sockets on both sides, however, have a few disadvantages when inserting and dismounting the lamp since the socket contact pins of both lamp ends are typically not synchronously insertable into the holders, which is on the one hand side due to user handling and caused by the fact that inserting the socket contact pins into the tight insertion openings of the holders is imprecise. The longer the fluorescent lamp is itself, the more uncomfortable it is to handle. Due to low intrinsic stability of the fluorescent lamps a user has to be very careful not to destroy the lamp during insertion or through unintentional dropping.
Furthermore, rather elongated fluorescent lamps with sockets on one side are known in the art which are inserted into light fixtures having only one lamp holder. In order to reduce mechanical loading of the holder and to provide correct orientation of the lamp in the light fixture, the lamps can be provided with an additional support for the fluorescent lamp, wherein the additional support typically is an interlocking element. The interlocking element partially envelops the fluorescent lamp which does not have any additional support device itself. Thus, reference is made to articles 26.746.1001 and 26.726-013 in the catalogue 2008-2011 on pages [03] 52 through [02] 54 of the applicant. In systems of this type mounting the fluorescent lamp can be easily performed through lateral insertion. Typically significant forces have to be applied for inserting the lamp into the holder. However, since the holder for the lamp socket includes a mounting movement end stop, a user has the additional safety of not losing the lamp out of his hand unintentionally. The same applies for interlocking the lamp in the support element at the light fixture. Also here, the support element includes a mounting end stop for the fixation movement.
Dismounting a fluorescent lamp of this type is much more inconvenient for the user since the sensitive fluorescent lamp has to be pulled out of the interlocking support element of the light fixture with comparatively high force and has to be pulled out of the lamp holder thereafter. The typically sudden overcoming of the support forces of the support element and of the holder causes a sudden movement of the lamp in dismounting direction which induces the risk that the lamp is accidentally dropped or that the lamp impacts the light fixture housing.
Last not least LED lamps are known in the art as replacement for fluorescent lamps. These LED lamps, however, use the known socket and holder systems. In order to be used as retrofit and replacement lamps for existing light fixtures such LED lamps emulate the classic configurations of fluorescent lamps.
DE 696 06 700 T2 discloses a push-in-push-out arrangement of socket and holder in which the entire mechanism is solely in the holder and separate support elements mechanically fixate the socket in the holder.